1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a device for catching ice cubes. More particularly, the present invention concerns a device for catching ice cubes that might otherwise fall from an ice cube dispenser located in the door of a refrigerator onto a floor.
2. Reference to Related Art
Refrigerators provided with an ice cube dispenser usually include a discharge opening in the door of the refrigerator or on the front face of the refrigerator. The discharge opening of the dispenser may include a small shelf to catch the ice cubes that are discharged from the dispenser and which are not caught by the glass or the like which is intended to receive them. Such shelves, if provided, do not include a front barrier. Therefore, they are largely ineffective in preventing ice cubes from falling to the floor.
The present invention provides an ice cube catcher designed to be mounted to a refrigerator to catch and retain ice cubes that would ordinarily fall to the floor from an ice cube dispenser. In a preferred embodiment, the ice cube catcher includes a body that has a lower portion extending inwardly toward the refrigerator door when the catcher is mounted on a refrigerator and a pair of inwardly curved end portions. Each of the end portions includes a flange or protrusion upon which is secured an attachment means for removably mounting the body to the refrigerator door. The attachment means is preferably a magnetic tape. However, mounting tape, two-sided sticky tape, hook and loop fasteners (e.g., VELCRO(copyright)) may also be used to mount the ice cube catcher to the refrigerator.
In a first alternative embodiment, the body of the ice cube catcher includes a first and a second body member that are telescopically joined together to permit longitudinal adjustment of the body. Therefore, the length of the catcher is adjustable to accommodate different size ice cube dispensers.
Finally, in a second alternative embodiment, the first body member is modified to include a raised center face and a pair of side faces. The center face and the side faces function to direct ice back into a recess of the dispenser. The center face preferably extends in a tapering fashion from the lower integral portion to proximate an upper edge of the first body member. The side faces preferably extend from opposite sides of the center face.
The ice cube catcher of the present invention is preferably constructed of clear plastic but it will be apparent that it could be of any color and that other materials could be used.